Saudis Vote In Local Elections

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz delivers a speech to the Saudi Shura Council, or advisory assembly, in Riyadh on September 25, when he announced future suffrage for women.

Men in Saudi Arabia are voting in local elections, the second-ever nationwide vote in the kingdom.

Women don't have the right to vote this time around, but should be able to do so in 2015 after a recent announcement by King Abdullah.

The September 29 elections will decide more than 1,000 local council seats. The vote was initially due in 2009 but was postponed.

The kingdom held its first nationwide election in 2005, also for local councils. It has 1.2 million registered voters out of 5 million men who could be eligible to vote.

Saudi Arabia does not have a parliament but a Shura Council, an advisory assembly appointed by the king.

On September 25, King Abdullah decided to allow women to run for the next municipal elections and be appointed as members of the Shura Council.

compiled from agency reports